John White “Old Glory” D Guard WIP

[Kevin Jones]

Next comes the sanding.

There's some file-work to clean up the ends, but the general shape is set.

Now comes sanding, starting with 220 grit and ending with 6000 grit.

A word about sandpaper grits. 220 is still a shaping grit. It'll cut and remove
material. I'll use a brass strip, a rubber backed strip, and thick, stiff
leather as a backing, and finish out the shape.

320 cleans up the 220 marks , and still moves a bit of material, using the
leather backing.

400 and 600 clean up previous scratches, and at 800 I'll move out onto the
popcorn to begin highlighting.

1000, 1200, go quickly, and things begin to shine, 2000 and 2500 more so.

Then to the polishing papers, blue (roughly 2000 g) pink (4000) and green (6000)

These are the fun items. I wish you could see how the surface changes.

Sometimes folks are overly impressed with the work involved in going up to the
higher grits in finishing.

Really, the work is done below 600 grit. After that, things go very quickly, and
only a few minutes are taken at each higher grit.

I think it's hard to argue, though, that the extra time is wasted.

I'll finish cleaning up the bow, and do the nit-picking this week-end.

 

[RogerP]

What a gorgeous piece of stag that is.

Roger

 

[peterinct]

I like everything about this knife. The skills, design and planning is fantastic!

Peter

 

[efleming]

Beautiful work John... Just glued to your WIP... Thank you for sharing your incredible talent...

 

[Kevin Jones]

Yep, I'm a sucker for nice Amber Stag.
Looking forward to seeing it finished!

 

[Kevin Jones]

Construction is completed on the knife with the carving of the guard thumb rest.
The bow is sanded to 1000 grit.

Tiny holes are drilled, and connected to the edge with the jewelry saw,

Opened with a knife-edge file,

And the "paw" carved with chain-saw files,

If we're going to call this a "lion's paw," let's grind out a couple reverse
"pads" with the dremel,

and sand them out with the corner of the rubber covered brass strip.

Here kitty!

 

[tedinatl]

Increadible! Can't wait to see this one finished!!!

 

[Manuel Quiroga G.]

This is going to be one AMAZING knife.
Love the D guard.
Great WIP.

 

[RogerP]

Just love the detailing on the paws.

Roger

 

[SBranson]

Yowza... Man, I think I said that before but dang that is nice looking.

 

[Kevin Jones]

Here are some photos of the knife, construction complete, but with the fittings
not yet etched. We'll be etching the fittings after the gold wire inlay is
completed by Joe Mason.

I'll have to make up a sheath stud for Paul, to match the
finial, and a take-down tool, also with carved damascus head.

 

[claudio-cas]

This is great!!

Claudio

 

[Starkman1]

Gorgeous knife!

 

[peterinct]

This has been a pleasure to follow and the skills shown by John are amazing!

I'm anxiously awaiting to see it completed with Joe Mason's embellishment.

There is another thread asking about the value of adding engraving. To me, the purpose of embellishment is to add beauty to an object. A successful engraving job should make it difficult to visualize the object WITHOUT the embellishment.

Peter

 

[Patrice Lemée]

Thank for sharing this. Incredible knife!

I know that I am just beginning to make knives and that my process will get refined with time but man do I feel like a caveman working in the shop when I look at this thread. Thanks for helping us improve. :thumbup:

 

[wieland]

john,
thanks so much for this WIP.
your accuracy for even the most tiny details is very impressing.

this bowie looks great!

gerhard

 

[John M Cohea]

Every detail and construction aspect of this knife is simply beyond words.John you certainly DESERVE the title of Mastersmith!Thanks for taking the extra time to share with us,and Kevin,congratulations on the addition of such a spectacular knife to your collection!

 

[NickWheeler]

Holy freak'n WOW!!!

 

[John White]

To everyone who looked and commented on this thread, thank you.

To Kevin, who is the patron of this one, supplied the fantastic stag, and did all the posting, thanks more than triple!

To Joe Mason and Paul Long, who are about to work their magic, how lucky can I get.

We'll post up again when it's all done, for sure, and maybe sooner.

'Til then, thanks all.

John

 

[Kevin Jones]

Here's the last two photos showing The sheath stud. (cool the way the strips carry through even this tiny piece of damascus).

And a full view of "Old Glory" before guard, collar, bow and butt-cap are etched and gold accents are added.
12-5/16" x 1-3/4" Blade of "Stars and Stripes" Damascus
D-Guard Bowie with Amber Stag handle and pierced guard bow.

There will be more photos after Joe, Paul and our professional photographer are finished.